Fei gently rubbed her temples as she sat on down, her eyes closed. “I don’t know what you did to make me speak up,” she muttered softly. “But somehow, it worked.” It was the first time he heard her voice speaking in normal volume without any kind of barrier. There wasn’t the politeness, nor was there reluctance, just her. Her tears were already dry and she seemed to have calmed down.

“Let me tell you something then,” she said, inhaling the air, oxygen filling her lungs. Lay, who had positioned himself next to her on the bench, turned his head. “I'm sorry for avoiding you the past few days …”

Before she continued, she took a shaky breath. “I have a problem with males. I rarely go near them because I feel very uncomfortable around them.” Lay's eyes widened slightly and he immediately felt bad for following her around.

“You're different though.” He looked up surprised. “I don’t feel uncomfortable around you.” Fei smiled. “Your … your eyes are kind,” Fei whispered with a small smile. “But it's hard for me to open up.”

“But you were yourself when we played the piano,” Lay softly spoke up, interrupting her.

“That's because the piano brought me back to the old times. At least in my mind. I feel carefree when I play the piano, even though the reality is the exact opposite … I feel like the girl from ten years ago, before everything changed.”

Another shaky breath. “I'm not sure if you know about our family situation. Did Luhan tell you?” As Lay shook his head, she continued and told him about the problems with her father, the injury he caused Luhan, the divorce, money problems … Lay could feel a lump in his throat, almost suffocating him. He never knew Luhan's childhood had been like this and now he really wished he confronted him about this matter earlier.

But he has Mihyun now, he thought, And I can help Fei. No. I have to.

“And then?” He reluctantly asked as Fei didn’t continue. He looked to the side and noticed that her hands were clenched into fists, trembling lightly. He instinctively reached out his hand and put it on hers. Fei took another deep breath. “After struggling a few years to get by, my mother made me … do things I didn’t want to.”

Lay's heart clenched, when a rough assumption formed inside his mind. He imploringly hoped his assumption was wrong. “She took me with her to unfamiliar houses, unfamiliar people … Men.”

He noticed how his breath had been become shaky and forced himself to calm down. Closing his eyes, he gritted his teeth. Even though he already knew what was going to come next, he didn’t want her to say it aloud. Didn’t want to hear it from her.

“ … and sold my body.”

He stopped breathing for a few seconds, stopped blinking. Hearing her saying it herself was so much more painful than having the assumption. He was always someone who could easily share other people's pain. And it hurt to hear what happened to Fei. So, so much.

“I was fifteen at that time.” Lay had to suppress the urge just to fling his arms around her.

“I can still remember everything perfectly. The memories haunt me in my nightmares.”

The more she said, the stronger his heart clenched, sending sparks of biting, piercing pain through his chest. A sour lump formed in his throat and he just wanted to stop listening, but nonetheless, he quietly listened as she talked. There was a seemingly endless moment of deadly silence before he turned his head. He watched her as tears rolled down her cheeks while she said, “I hate life. I hate what it did to me and my fami–” before he flung his arms around her.

There was this stinging pain in his chest, feeling so terrible. He couldn’t bear to imagine how Fei had to feel like. Unknowingly, tears had made their way